Oriental omelet, hush puppies worth shouting about

RECIPE FINDER

January 11, 1995|By Ellen Hawks | Ellen Hawks,Sun Staff Writer

Hush puppies, a cornmeal treat, and an Oriental omelet offer a welcome change of menu.

According to one -- believed-to-be-true -- fish tale, it was )R fishermen who named the hush puppy. Briefly, the story goes that after a day of fishing, they would sit by the river around a campfire over which an iron kettle filled with oil hung. In the deep, hot fat, they would fry their catch of fish, along with some cornmeal cakes. If one of their dogs would begin to howl, they'd throw it a cornmeal cake and call out "Hush, puppy!"

Chef Gilles Syglowski of the Baltimore International Culinary College chose one from Jane J. Kelton of Aberdeen. Ms. Kelton wrote that for more than 40 years she has enjoyed this recipe and it "is the best I have found. Everyone who tries it agrees."

Kelton's Hush Puppies

Serves 4

1 cup white corn meal

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon each salt and sugar

3 teaspoons flour

1 egg

1 medium onion, grated

Mix to thick batter with warm water and drop by tablespoons into hot grease that fish has been fried in. Fry until golden brown and cooked through.

*

An Oriental omelet was requested by Joan Parsons of Kelso, Wash., who wrote that she had seen the recipe in a magazine about 15 years ago and believes it "was with an advertisement of soy sauce."

Her unsigned answer was an original 1979 ad for Kikkoman Soy Sauce for an "Honorable Omelet." Chef Syglowski hails it as "very good."

Honorable Omelet

Serves 4

2 small carrots, peeled and cut into julienne strips

1 large stalk celery, cut diagonally into 1/8 -inch thick slices

1 medium onion, chunked

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 teaspoon ground ginger

2 tablespoons salad oil

1 1/4 cups water

1/4 cup Kikkoman Soy Sauce

4 teaspoons cornstarch

8 cherry tomatoes, halved, or 1 medium tomato cut into eighths

8 eggs

1/2 cup water

4 tablespoons butter, divided

Stir-fry first five ingredients together in hot salad oil over medium high heat for 1 to 2 minutes or until tender-crisp. Combine next three ingredients, stir into the first mixture with the tomatoes. Cook until sauce boils and thickens. Keep warm while preparing omelets.

Thoroughly mix eggs with 1/2 cup water. For each omelet, heat 1 tablespoon butter in 8-inch omelet pan until hot. Pour in 1/2 cup egg mixture which should set at edges at once. Carefully push cooked eggs to center, tilting pan occasionally so uncooked eggs can flow to bottom. While top is still moist and creamy-looking, spoon about 1/2 cup vegetable mixture on half of omelet.

Fold omelet over filling and turn out onto plate. Keep warm while preparing remaining omelets. Top each omelet with 1/4 of the remaining vegetable mixture. Serve immediately with additional soy sauce.

Recipe requests

* Mary Bender of Baltimore would like to have a recipe for a potato chip cookie. "About 7 years ago I copied the recipe from your paper and lost it," she wrote.

* Madge K. Brengle of Baltimore wants a recipe which duplicates the "Chicken Florentine, no spinach, which is served at Maria's Restaurant in Little Italy."

Chef Syglowski, with the help of chefs and students at the Baltimore International Culinary College, tested these recipes.

If you are looking for a recipe or can answer a request for a long-gone recipe, maybe we can help. Write to Ellen Hawks, Recipe Finder, The Sun, 501 N. Calvert St., Baltimore 21278.

If you send in more than one recipe, put each on a separate sheet of paper with your name, address and phone number. Please note the number of servings which each recipe makes. We will test the first 12 recipes sent to us.